


superior fit, lower maintenance

by antigrav_vector



Series: Spiraling Ever Upward [7]
Category: Captain America (MCU), Iron Man (MCU), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bisexual James Rhodes, Bisexual Tony Stark, F/M, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Multi, POV Tony Stark, Threesome - M/M/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 02:21:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16588940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey are recovering from Christmas Dinner with his family. Naturally this means they end up between the sheets.





	superior fit, lower maintenance

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to my beta reader [dapperanachronism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapperanachronism).
> 
> So, here is the next installment of my college AU of my OT6 fic series [Like trying to stop an avalanche](https://archiveofourown.org/series/380455). It's no longer going to follow the Happy Steve Bingo prompts, since I've done my bingo. There will be a lot of poly in upcoming installments, so if that's not your thing, beware.

"Tony, come on," Rhodey tried again. "Normally you love trying to outdo me. What's different this time?"

Tony eyed him warily. "This time you still have the Howlies' crazy stories in your head," he retorted. "Even I know that leads to disaster."

Rhodey laughed at him. "Fine fine."

That had been too easy. Tony decided he needed to distract his best friend. "Anyway, I need a shower. You coming?"

Rhodey raised an eyebrow at him. "It's barely noon. Didn't you get enough last night?"

Tony smirked. "I could never get enough of you, honeybear."

Shaking his head, Rhodey got to his feet and stepped over to him, making Tony have to crane his neck to look up at him. The asshole. 

They passed a pleasant hour in the shower and afterwards Tony took the opportunity to settle in at his computer to continue working on his current project. If he could get it to work, he had an idea for a robotic lab assistant. Nothing overly complex. It didn't have to have legs. In fact, wheels would be better.

But that part of the design could come later. First he had to get the framework for the code working and debugged. If he wanted his new assistant to be able to learn and do more than just one hard-coded task, or even a series of tasks made up of pre-programmed subtasks, he would have to develop an AI capable of learning what he needed it to within a reasonable timeframe. 

And for the time being he had time to work on it. That wouldn't be true anymore once Christmas break was over, and Tony wanted to get as much of his coding done now as he could, so that he could work on the hardware next semester.

Almost before he knew it, Pepper was insistently pulling him away from his work.

"Tony, it's high time you came to dinner. Get up. Go wash your face and your hands."

"But I was so close to --"

"No, Tony," she put her foot down. "Go."

Rather than push -- he knew better than to do that, after dating Pepper for a year and half -- Tony put his hands up in an approximation of surrender and went, hurriedly saving his work. "What's for dinner anyway?"

"Rhodey made his Mom's spaghetti," she told him, taking his elbow with a pleased smile and pointedly leading him to the bathroom.

He rolled his eyes but quickly washed his face and hands before he stepped back out.

Dinner, once they got to the dining room, smelled amazing and tasted just as good. There wasn't much conversation. All three of them were too busy eating for that.

And once they were done demolishing all of it down to the last noodle and bite of sauce, Pepper gave him that smile. The one that said she wanted to have some fun in bed. It was one of Tony's favourites for obvious reasons.

It had been a few days. They hadn't had any privacy at Aunt Peggy's.

She turned to Rhodey and gave him the same look. "I am going to go slip into something more comfortable and spend some time between our sheets. With or without you."

Rhodey grinned at her. "Well, if you want, I don't mind helping you save some battery power," he offered.

Stretching in his seat before he stood, Tony made an amused sound. "Pretty sure I could make her a much better battery," he offered as he stood, fighting the lethargic full feeling of having eaten just a little too much.

"You gonna take up chemistry now, too, just to be a cockblock?" Rhodey ribbed him as they picked up their plates and carried them back out of the dining room. "Physics and Engineering not enough yet?"

"Could be fun," Tony replied with a smirk.

Pepper sniffed at him. "First, you should worry about making sure you can do a better job than my toys."

Spurred onward, Rhodey wrapped an arm around her waist as they got to the bedroom door. "Don't you worry. We're loads better than any bit of plastic."

Pepper reached for the waistband of her pants. "Prove it."

Tony knew it was a challenge meant to goad them, but he couldn't resist it. He yanked his shirt off over his head, and tossed it carelessly over the back of his chair. "What're you in the mood for?"

The question got him a smug smirk. "I thought I'd lay you boys out on the bed, one at a time, and use you like a pair of superior sex toys," she answered, and Tony felt a shock of heat go up his spine.

"Yeah?" Rhodey asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "That mean you don't want our hands and mouths all over you?"

"Maybe if you think you can't make me come on your cock," Pepper said decisively, and watched Rhodey like a hawk. "Right now I want you in me."

Tony grinned. "Who's first?"

Pepper pretended to think it over. "Rhodey."

Tony couldn't help himself. He pouted at her. The move got him an amused chuckle and Pepper's hand on his jaw.

"Don't worry, Tony," she said, "I've got plans for you. And in the meantime, you can put your hands and mouth to use driving Rhodey wild."

That definitely sweetened the deal. Leaning in for a lingering kiss, he tried to show her how he felt without openly saying the words. Judging by the way she smiled at him when the kiss broke, it had worked. Satisfied with that outcome, Tony turned his attention back to the bed, and Rhodey. "You ready for this, flyboy?" he teased.

"Bring it," Rhodey challenged him. "I can take you any day, white boy."

Pepper didn't hesitate. She stripped her top off in two efficient movements, then her elegant slacks. Her socks and underwear took her a moment longer, and then she stood there in nothing but her lacy bra, staring Rhodey down like he was a steak and she hadn't eaten in a week. She knelt on the bed at Rhodey's hip, making his hands twitch with the need to touch and then clench around bunches of the sheets, before she leaned down to kiss him.

Tony had to bite back a groan, watching her. He hurriedly undid the button and zipper on his jeans and shoved them down off his hips. They landed in a heap of crumpled well-worn fabric around his ankles, and he stepped out of them before he tossed them after his t-shirt. His thong followed a similar path, and then he was joining his lovers on the bed just in time to watch Pepper deftly apply a rubber to Rhodey and line him up. He leaned in and started kissing Rhodey, swallowing the choked moan his best friend made when Pepper let gravity sheathe him inside her in one long smooth slide.

Pepper only waited a few seconds before she started moving. Tony knew she'd be biting at her lip, as she always did for the first few thrusts. The thought made him whine into the kiss, and bring his hands up to run them almost reverently over Rhodey's torso. He still had trouble believing that Rhodey had agreed to this arrangement. He'd been surprised enough that he and Pepper had managed to last more than a month, but the three of them? That had seemed like such a statistical improbability. And yet, they worked. They all knew it was very likely only going to last until Rhodey met someone and fell head-over-heels, but that was okay.

The kiss broke, then, pulling Tony back out of his thoughts as Rhodey threw his head back, fighting for air. "Pepper," he gritted out as she leaned back to put her hands on his legs, just above his knees, for leverage, "oh my God." 

That pose only lasted a few seconds, and then Pepper moaned high in her throat. Tony risked a glance at her. Pepper was using her own hands to tease at her nipples and her clit.

The sight was enough to make him want Pepper more than his next breath of air, and he let his head fall until he could suck a hickey into the skin just below Rhodey's collarbone. It got Rhodey to jerk, a convulsive shudder going through him from head to toe.

Pepper made a very pleased sound. "Mmmm yes, just like that," she purred, her movements speeding a little.

Rhodey didn't last long after that. He came hard with a hiss, his back arching and his chest heaving as he fought for air. Tony didn't let up, knowing Pepper would want him to keep going, and managed to wring another few quiet moans out of Rhodey in the process.

Pepper kept moving, bringing herself off as he came down off the high. 

"Jesus," Rhodey gasped as she lifted herself off him with a squelch of lube and come.

She simply reached back to undo her bra, dropping it over the edge of the bed and raised an eyebrow at Tony. "Think you can do better?"


End file.
